--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Michael Phelps' Most Intense Faces description: Whether it's focused pre-race intensity, anxious scoreboard watching or unbridled joy, Michael Phelps isn't one to hide his emotions. canonical: https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-10T20:33:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:35.331Z og:title: Every Intense Olympic Game Face Michael Phelps Ever Made og:description: The best facial expressions of the man who has one the most gold medals ever og:url: https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f9360c68525748/6988a1ea2dce019b349ea446/phelps.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: phelps og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Every Intense Olympic Game Face Michael Phelps Ever Made twitter:description: The best facial expressions of the man who has one the most gold medals ever twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f9360c68525748/6988a1ea2dce019b349ea446/phelps.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the 6 Greatest Olympic Game Faces of Michael Phelps in One Epic GIF  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2016 8:33 PM UTC   by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 10, 2016 8:33 PM UTC [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4446337/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-laughing-national-anthem/) is continuing to extend his record as the most decorated Olympian of all time, winning his [20th and 21st gold medals](http://time.com/4445981/rio-2016-swimming-ledecky-phelps-hosszu-gold/) during Tuesday night’s events in Rio. Throughout his Olympic run, the 31-year-old swimmer has become one of the most [cheered athletes](http://time.com/4446040/michael-phelps-swimming-olympics-rio/) of the Summer Games, winning fans over with both his incredible athleticism and tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve. Whether it’s [focused pre-race intensity](http://time.com/4444374/michael-phelps-rio-olympics-game-face/), anxious scoreboard watching or unbridled celebration, Phelps isn’t one to hide his emotions. Here are six of his greatest game faces.  Getty Images (4); Gif by Elijah Sinclair Walker for TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/"},"headline":"See the 6 Greatest Olympic Game Faces of Michael Phelps in One Epic GIF","datePublished":"2016-08-10T20:33:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:35.331Z","description":"The best facial expressions of the man who has won the most gold medals ever","url":"https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Team USA","Rio de Janeiro","swimming","Michael Phelps","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Rio 2016 Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f9360c68525748/6988a1ea2dce019b349ea446/phelps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f9360c68525748/6988a1ea2dce019b349ea446/phelps.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"phelps","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4447065/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-face/","name":"See the 6 Greatest Olympic Game Faces of Michael Phelps in One Epic GIF"}}]}] ```